Impulse-sending device.



H. P. CLAUSEN.

IMPULSE SENDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 0Ec.3o. 191a.

Patented Aug". 28, 1917.

HENRY P. CLAUSEN, F MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

IMPULSE-SENDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

Application filed December 30, 1916. Serial No. 139,863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY P. (known, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Impulse-Sending Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to impulse sending devices of the type used in automatic telephone exchange systems, and more particularly to impulse sending devices arranged for use at the subscribers stations.

In systems employing line-finding switches to extend the calling line'to a first selector,

it has been found that the time after the receiver has been taken from the hook and before the dial is released to send impulses may be too short to allow complete operation of the line-finding switch in some cases. If the line-finding switch does not have time to operate completely, some of the impulses will be lost and the first selector will not be positioned correctly.

Systems have been devised in which the calling subscribers impulse sending device is locked against return movement until the line finder has completed its operation. However, senders embodying a feature of this kind have not been found satisfactory, since a calling subscriber, upon noting the failure of the sender to start its return motion, will frequently believe that the device is defective and may use force in attempting to start its operation, thereby damaging the instrument.

It is the object of this invention to provide means by which the action of the sender is delayed after release by the calling subscriber, so that the line finder may be allowed suificient time to pletely.

A feature of theinvention is the use of a special governing device by which the sender accelerates slowly up to a certain point at which it begins to transmit impulses, afterwhich it will return to normal at a desired uniform rate.

It is thought that the invention will best be understood from the following detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a sendoperate coming device equipped with a governing device of a type embodying the principles of this invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the governing device shown in Fig. 1 on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a sending device equipped with an alternative form of governing device; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the governing device shown in Fig.3, looking from the line 14 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of governing device suitable for use with a sender of the type shown in Fig. 3.

The construction and operation of the invention as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will first be described. A number plate 6 is secured to a shaft 7 and has spaced about its periphcry a number of finger holds 8. A star wheel 9 and a gear wheel 10 are also secured to shaft 7, the star wheel 9 being provided wit projecting teeth 11. A pinion 12 and a gear wheel 13 are secured to a rotatable shaft 14, the teeth of pinion 12 being arranged to mesh with the teeth of gear wheel 10. The teeth of a pinion 15, mounted on a rotatable shaft 16, are arranged to mesh with the teeth of gear wheel 13. A supporting member 17 is also secured to shaft 16 and is arranged to rotate therewith.

Brake members 18 are pivoted to the member 17 by means of pins 19. When the brake members 18 are thrown radially outward by centrifugal force as a result of the rotation of member 17, the braking surfaces 20 mounted near the ends of members 18, are thrown into frictional contact with the sides of the cup-shaped braking member 21.

A pawl 22, pivotally mounted on member .17, is spring pressed into engagement with the teeth of wheel 15, so that when the wheel 15 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing, the member 17 will not be rotated, since pawl 22 rides over the teeth of wheel 15. Upon counter-clockwise rotation of wheel 15, the member 17 will be rotated.

The members 18 are held in their normal position by means of leaf springs 23 secured to the ends of members 18 and bearing against shaft 16. Auxiliary brake members 24 are secured to the under sides of the members 18 by means of leaf springs 25, and are movable with such members. When the members 18 move outwardly, the auxiliary braking surfaces 24 are thrown into engage: ment with a circular ridge 26 which is formed in the bottom of brake member 21.

The operation of the device is as follows: A subscriber, upon operating the sender to send the first series of impulses, inserts his finger inone of the holds 8 corresponding to the firstdigit of the desired number, andv rotates the number wheel 6 in a clockwise direction against the tension .of a spiral spring '27 until his finger encounters a stop 28. He will then release the number wheel and it will return to its normal position under the control of spring 27. During clockwise rotation of number wheel 6, star wheel 9 is rotated in a clockwise direction and a pivoted lever 29 is operated upon the passage of each tooth 11, there being as many teeth 11 as there are finger holds 8. However, as a result of the clockwise rotation of wheel 9, the contacts 30, arranged to be operated by an insulated roller 31 carried by lever 29, will not be operated, since the motion of roller 31 is in a direction such that it will have no eifect on the contacts30.

The clockwise rotation of wheel 10 results in the, counter-clockwise rotation of gear wheels 12 and 13, and the clockwise rotation of pinion 15. Therefore, during clockwise or. adjusting movement of number plate 6, the governing device will not be actuated, since the pawl 22 merely rides over the teeth of wheel 15.

When the number plate 6 returns to its normal position, the pinion 15 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and the member 17 will be rotated therewith. The members 18 will be thrown outwardly by the action of centrifugal force, and upon the first outward movement will bring the auxiliary brake members 24 into engagement with the ridge 26. The frictional action of members 24 on the ridge 26 will produce suflicient braking action to prevent rapid acceleration of the member 6. Some acceleration, however, is necessary and the desired rate of acceleration may be attained by adjustment of the leaf springs 25. After the device has attained a certain rate of motion, the members 18 will be pressed outwardly with sufiicient force to cause the surfaces 24 to ride over the ridge 26. The members 18 will then be thrown outward to bring the braking surfaces 20 into engagement with the inner braking surface of the cupshaped member 21 and will control the subsequent rate of speed in the usual manner.

Upon rotation of star wheel 9 in a counter-clockwise direction, the contacts 30 will be opened each time that a tooth 11 engages lever 29, since motion of .roller 31 will now be in a direction to cause the opening of the contacts operated by it each time it is moved from its normal position.

Theoperation of the governing device shown in Figs. 3 and 4 will now be described. Since the sender is substantially similar to that described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, only the parts of the device shown in Figs. 3 and 4 which differ from those of Figs. 1 and 2 will be described.

In the device shown in Fig. 3, the gear wheel 10.meshes with a pinion 32 rotatabl mounted on a shaft 33. The shaft 33 1s rotatable and has secured to it a worm gear wheel 34 arranged to engage a worm 35 secured to a rotatable shaft 36. A pawl 37 is pivotally mounted on wheel '34 at any convenient point and is spring pressed to engage the teeth of pinion 32, the arrangement being such that upon counter-clockwise rotation of pinion 32, the pawl 37 will ride over the teeth of pinion 32 and wheel 34 will not be rotated; but upon clockwise rotation of pinion 32, pawl 37 will be maintained in engagement with a tooth of pinion 32 and wheel 34 will be rotated therewith.

Spring members 38 are secured to shaft 36 by means of a spacing block 39. To theends of the spring members 38 are securedprojections 40, forming braking surfaces arranged to engage the inside braking surface of a fixed cup-shaped braking member 41 when thrown outward by centrifugal force against the tension of members 38. The shaft 36 passes through a member 42 substantially oval in cross section, as best seen in Fig. 4. The member 42 coiiperates with the lower inner portions 43 of members 38 to form an auxiliary braking device.

The operation of this device is as follows: The subscriber operates number plate 6 as previously described, but during clockwise rotation of wheel 6, pinion 32 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction and the worm gear wheel 34 is not actuated. When the subscriber'releases the number plate 6, pinion 32 is rotated in a clockwise direction, causing the rotation of wheel 34 and shaft 36. Upon rotation of the governing device,

the braking surfaces 43 are caused to slide over and make contact with the surface of member 42, and as they approach the longer axis, braln'ng action will be produced to retard the acceleration of the device. As before, the device must be so adjusted that some acceleration may take place. Each time the surfaces 43 pass over the surface adjacent to the longer am's of member 42, the

above described braking action will take place. Since, however, acceleration is continuous, although gradual, the members 38 will eventually be sufliciently displaced to prevent engagement between the surfaces 43 and the surface of member 42, so that the 3 speed at which the number plate 6 returns to its normal position will thereafter be controlled solely by the action between braking surfaces 40 and the inner surface of the cupshaped braking member 41. return motion of number plate 6, the contacts 30 are operated as described in connection with Fig. 1. j

The device shown in Fig. 5 is arranged to be rotated by means of the shaft 4% which may be driven in a manner identical to that used in connection with shaft 36. In this case the spring members 45 which corre-- spond to the spring members 38 of Fig. 3, carry spring members 46 which, upon the first rotation of the shaft 44:, cause braking surfaces 47 to be thrown into engagement with the edge of the cup-shaped braking member 48. After the speed of shaft 44; has been accelerated to a point where the centrifugal action of the braking members 49 is of suflicient strength, the surfaces 47, due to the resiliency of members 46, will ride over the edge of cup-shaped member 48, and the speed of the device will be controlled solely by the action of brake members 49 on the inner braking surface of member 48.

- The invention is not to be restricted to any of the forms of governing devices shown and described, since it may be applicable to a variety of forms of governing devices used in conjunction with varied forms of sending devices.

What is claimed is:

1. In an impulse sending device, means to variably adjust said device, motor means to operate said device after an adjustment, means to retard operation of said device at the beginning of its movement, and means to render said retarding means ineffective after a predetermined movement.

2. In an impulse sending device, means to variably adjust said device, motor means to operate said device after an adjustment, means to retard operation of said device at the beginning of its movement, means to render said retarding means inefiective after a predetermined movement, and means to maintain subsequent operation of said device at a uniform rate.

3. In an impulse sending device, a number plate, means to set said number plate, motor means to cause return motion of said number plate, means to send out impulses during return motion of said number plate after said number plate has moved to its first sending position, means to retard acceleration of said impulse sending device while moving to its first sending position, and means to render said retarding means ineffective while impulses are being sent.

4. In combination with an impulse send-.

ing device, means to operate said impulse sending device, a governing device to regulate the speed of operation of said impulse sending device, said governing device including a set of primary brake members and a set of secondary brake members, means to render said secondary brake members eifec tive at the beginning of operation of said impulse sending device, and means subsequently operable to render ineffective said secondary brake members and to allow operation of said impulse sending device under the control of said primary brake members.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th day of December, A. D.

HENRY P. OLAUSEN. 

